


A Goddess, Two Lovebirds, and a Broken Heart

by Hotspur



Category: Ripper Street
Genre: Ancient Egyptian Literature & Mythology, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Gen, I shoukd have finished and posted this long ago
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-27
Updated: 2013-10-27
Packaged: 2017-12-30 14:30:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1019772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hotspur/pseuds/Hotspur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Drake spends a night with Rose.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Goddess, Two Lovebirds, and a Broken Heart

"You don't have to do this, Rose," Susan said. 

"He booked me," Rose replied, turning down the hall from her room. "He's paying." She walked into the parlour, where her customer was waiting. He was scrawny and had the saddest eyes she'd ever seen.

"Good evening, Bennet," she said. He looked up from his hat, which he'd been playing with nervously. 

"Good evening Rose," he replied. He stood up and took her hand. He was always very awkward around her, and now he looked as if he was about to run away. "I hope you don't mind..."

"It's fine," Rose said. "I have a job to do." She lead him down the hall as Susan and several of the girls watched, knowing full well that she was going to break his heart again.

Rose closed the door behind them, watching Drake intently. "So, what do you want, Bennet?" She found herself asking.  Having her former suitor as a customer wasn't ideal. She'd jilted him badly, poor thing, and he looked it. 

"I- well, this is going to sound silly, Rose, but..." Drake shifted uncomfortably. He looked away, fixating instead on the pretty bed that was Rose's livelihood. Not the stage, where she belonged. 

"I'm listening Bennet," she said, her sweet, girlish voice. "I promise, I won't laugh."

Drake forced himself to look at her. He took her hands in his, as usual noting the difference between their skin, one scarred, the other perfect. "I- I just want you to talk to me," he said. "I just wonder if... if you could just... hold me a while. Maybe let me sleep with you by my side."

Rose didn't know what to say. That was a strange request indeed, but at the same time sounded wonderful. She reached up to touch his craggy face. Some cuts, no doubt from the life of a Whitechapel policeman, and tired eyes. He probably hadn't slept for days. She lead him to the bed and let him lay down. She took up next to him, her head resting on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and she felt quite safe for some reason.

"So..." she ventured. "You told me about the Egyptian goddess of war and love?" 

"I did..." he answered. He'd told her about how the goddess of war and blood became the goddess of love. That was right before she'd told him she couldn't be his wife. 

"Tell me more," Rose asked. "I'd love to hear more about the legends from Egypt."

"I'd love to tell you them," Drake said, and she snuggled down, ready for a story. 

"Well, the goddess of war is a lioness, called Sekhmet. She's a terrible, bloodthirsty cat, who roams the land, looking for prey. She controls fire and the desert, and in Egypt, the color of evil is red, not black. That's because it's the color of sand, and only death comes from the desert. But she's not all bad," Drake said. "She's got another side, too. Another goddess, who's part of her, called Bast. Then she's a sweet, gentle housecat."

"How are they parts of each other?" Rose asked, looking up at him, his whiskers scratching her forehead.

"I think that's because we can't have one without the other," Drake replied. "Sekhmet is the goddess of war, but love makes it bearable." He sighed. "But if there was nothing sad in life, how would we know what is good?"

"I think you're right, Bennet," Rose said. She was beginning to be very comfortable in his arms.

"And Sekhmet is not all bad," Drake continued. "She and her other side have the duty of protecting the king of the gods, Ra. He has the head of a falcon and rules the sun. The ancient kings of Egypt were thought to be him in human form, so their protector was this goddess." Drake grimaced slightly, remembering Jackson's admonition about Rose- _beware the kitten's claws_. He recovered, and continued telling Rose about the stories the Egyptians had told to explain the world- how Nu'ut and her husband Geb were held apart by their father Shu- forming the sky, the rivalry between Horus and Set, and how Isis had brought her husband Osiris back to life after being murdered by Set, the god of chaos.

Eventually Rose fell asleep, and Drake watched over her until morning. Glancing at the window as the sun rose, he could have sworn he saw the two lovebirds on a line.


End file.
